Thursday, February 28, 2008

Roger Shikan Hawkins began practicing Zen Buddhism at the San Francisco Zen Center in 1971, at the age of 22. He spent 10 years as a practicing residential student, spending 3 years at the Tassajara monastery, and Green Gulch Farm, as well as the City Center in San Francisco. He studied under Richard Baker Roshi, as well as Tenshin Reb Anderson Roshi, who is one of the most widely known and respected Zen teachers in America. Roger began practicing with Taizan Maezumi Roshi in 1993, until his death in 1995. In the late 90's he also practiced with the Santa Monica Zen Center, and began teaching classes in a limited role.

In 1999, Roger and his family moved to Florida, where he continued his practice helping The Southern Palm Zen Group in Boca, and he met Lou Nordstrom, Mitsunen Roshi, in 2000. Mitsunen gave Roger the new dharma name, Shikan. Roger finished koan study with Lou, and received Dharma Transmission, meaning certification as a Zen teacher in 2004, receiving the title Shikan Sensei.

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Sunday, February 24, 2008

Technical difficulties in Forumposting persist at our host provider ...Please practice with those in the manner of Mushotoku and Muga,as Master Deshimaru describes in the talk which Will posted ...All "technical difficulties" are just life, are just Practice.

We have a special guest today, our resident biochemist ...

(Do we have more than one biochemist??) ...

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Saturday, February 23, 2008

To study the buddha way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be actualized by myriad things. When actualized by myriad things,your body and mind as well as the bodies and minds of others drop away.No trace of realization remains, and this no-trace continues endlessly.When you first seek dharma, you imagine you are far away from its environs. At the moment when dharma is correctly transmitted, you are immediately your original self.[Aitken & Tanahashi]To learn Buddhism is to learn ourselves.To learn ourselves is to forget ourselves.To forget ourselves is to be experienced by millions of things and phenomena. To be experienced by millions of things and phenomena isto let our own body and mind, and the body and mind of the external world, fall away.[Then] we can forget the [mental] trace of realization, and show the [real] signs of forgotten realization continually, moment by moment.When a person first seeks the Dharma, he is far removed from the borders of Dharma. But as soon as the Dharma is authentically transmitted to the person himself, he is a human being in his own true place.[Nishijima]

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Friday, February 22, 2008

To study the buddha way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be actualized by myriad things. When actualized by myriad things,your body and mind as well as the bodies and minds of others drop away.No trace of realization remains, and this no-trace continues endlessly.When you first seek dharma, you imagine you are far away from its environs. At the moment when dharma is correctly transmitted, you are immediately your original self.[Aitken & Tanahashi]To learn Buddhism is to learn ourselves.To learn ourselves is to forget ourselves.To forget ourselves is to be experienced by millions of things and phenomena. To be experienced by millions of things and phenomena isto let our own body and mind, and the body and mind of the external world, fall away.[Then] we can forget the [mental] trace of realization, and show the [real] signs of forgotten realization continually, moment by moment.When a person first seeks the Dharma, he is far removed from the borders of Dharma. But as soon as the Dharma is authentically transmitted to the person himself, he is a human being in his own true place.[Nishijima]

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Thursday, February 21, 2008

Bamboo shadows sweep the stairs,Yet not a mote of dust is stirred; Moonbeams pierce to the bottom of the pool, Yet in the water not a trace remains.Though the stream flows swiftly by, the scene is forever still.While the flowers are wilting rapidly, my mind is cool.Treats things this way and how at ease one would be.

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To study the buddha way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be actualized by myriad things. When actualized by myriad things,your body and mind as well as the bodies and minds of others drop away.No trace of realization remains, and this no-trace continues endlessly. When you first seek dharma, you imagine you are far away from its environs. At the moment when dharma is correctly transmitted, you are immediately your original self.[Aitken & Tanahashi]To learn Buddhism is to learn ourselves.To learn ourselves is to forget ourselves.To forget ourselves is to be experienced by millions of things and phenomena. To be experienced by millions of things and phenomena isto let our own body and mind, and the body and mind of the external world, fall away.[Then] we can forget the [mental] trace of realization, and show the [real] signs of forgotten realization continually, moment by moment.When a person first seeks the Dharma, he is far removed from the borders of Dharma. But as soon as the Dharma is authentically transmitted to the person himself, he is a human being in his own true place.[Nishijima]

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Thursday, February 07, 2008

The 'Precepts' are at the heart of our Practice. Not hard and fast laws or 'Commandments' from heaven, each is an arrow pointing out a good path.

All basically come down to this ...

Seek, as you can, not to do harm ... and to live in a way healthful and helpful to yourself and others ... (that is not two)

Living by the Precepts supports and sustains the Practice of Zazen. The Practice of Zazen supports and nurtures Living by the Precepts. In fact, Zazen is living by the Precepts, Living by the Precepts nothing besides Zazen.

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Do not put faith in traditions, even though they have been acceptedfor long generations and in many countries. Do not believe a thingbecause many repeat it. Do not accept a thing on the authority of oneor another of the sages of old, nor on the ground of statements asfound in the books. Never believe anything because probability is inits favor. Do not believe in that which you yourselves have imagined,thinking that a god has inspired it. Believe nothing merely on theauthority of the teachers or the priests. After examination, believethat which you have tested for yourself and found reasonable, which isin conformity with your well being and that of others.

Zoketsu Norman Fisher Roshi also tells this version of a tale from the Malunkyaputta Sutta.

It's about a monk named Malunkyaputta who one day was meditating, and in the midst of his meditation he got really mad. He started thinking, "Gee, you know, the Buddha never said anything about who made the world. And the Buddha never said anything about whether the world is eternal or not. And the Buddha never said anything about what happens to Buddhas after they die." And a whole bunch of other things like that that the Buddha never said anything about. He said, "I want to know about those things, and I'm really pissed that the Buddha didn't say anything about that. Now if the Buddha didn't know anything about that, that's one thing, then he could just admit it, and that would be fine. But he didn't say that either, so I'm really angry about this , and I don't feel like I can go on with this meditation period until I get to the bottom of it." ...

Well, the Buddha said, "Malunkyaputta, did I ever promise you when you came that I was going to tell you about these things?" Malunkyaputta said, "No, actually, you didn't." The Buddha said, "You know, it really doesn't have anything to do with whether I know the answer to these things, or I don't know the answer to these things. Imaging someone who gets shot with an arrow, and who is lying there mortally wounded, with the last moments of life ebbing away. A surgeon comes along to pull the arrow out, and the man weakly looks up at the surgeon and says: 'Before you pull the arrow out can you tell me to what clan belongs the person who shot this arrow? Would you find out for me, please, before you pull the arrow out, whether the person who shot me was a tall person or a short person? Would you mind inquiring, before you pull this arrow out, the colour of skin of this person: was it light skin, dark skin, medium skin? What was the profession of the person who shot this arrow? Could you tell me, please, was it an artisan, or a physician, or a scholar? And furthermore, what sort of arrow is this anyway? Was it made from a cherry tree, or an oak tree, or a pine tree? And what about the feathers on the end of this arrow? Were they made from goose feathers, or are they eagle feathers, or vulture feathers? And what about the tip of the arrow, how is that made?'"

The Buddha said, "If the person who was shot were to seek the answers to all these questions, definitely, he would be dead before he found the answers to these questions. So Malunkyaputta, it's not that I know the answers to these questions and I'm not telling you, or that I don't know the answers to these questions. It's just that I know for sure that speculating on these questions does not help to live the life that we want for practice. Malunkyaputta, I have not been silent. There is something that I have told you. I have spoken of suffering, and the cause of suffering, and the end of suffering, and the path. Suffering and the end of suffering, that is what's important. About that I have spoken."

NOTE: SIGNAL WAS LOST TOWARD END OF THE SITTING.

PLEASE SELF-TIME IF SITTING ALONG.

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Monday, February 04, 2008

The way to 'attain that which cannot be attained' is to drop, right to the marrow, the search for all attainments.

Thus, our teachings are of a different flavor from forms of Buddhism, and 'Koan'-centered Zazen (as taught by the Rinzai School), that speak of attaining special states, struggling for mind-bending 'Kensho' experiences, or gaining 'Enlightenment'

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In order to keep focus on Zazen, Zen and moreZazen, comments to posts are moderated. I apologize to anyone whose message is not published, and will respond to you privately.Also, please see our SanghaCommunity Forum[LINK]--- open to anyone to say (almost) anything! Lots of experienced and dedicated sitters on our Forum. Join in the chat! Gassho

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